Census Bureau to Participate in National Civic Day of Hacking, Issues City SDK Challenge to Developers

WASHINGTON, May 13, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Census Bureau is participating in this year's National Day of Civic Hacking by launching the "City SDK Open Data Solutions Challenge." This challenge encourages developers to use the Census Bureau's new City Software Development Kit (SDK), a new tool that makes the bureau's API (application programming interface) easier to use. As part of this national event, the Census Bureau will also participate in the 2015 Urban Sustainability Apps Competition, where developers have the opportunity to create apps using the City SDK.

These events will bring together residents, software developers and entrepreneurs from across the nation to use publicly released data, code and technology to solve common sustainability challenges facing neighborhoods, cities, states and the nation. Using the City SDK will help developers explore sustainability issues through combining various data sets and themes that may include a mix of economic, environmental, social and cultural issues.

The City SDK is a user-friendly "toolbox" for civic hackers and developers to connect the Census Bureau's local and national public data from the bureau's and any other open API. The tool has the capability to easily mash-up data from different sources, saving hours of coding time for developers.

In line with the Open Government Initiative, the API is just one part of the Census Bureau's digital transformation. Together with other innovations, such as the mobile apps America's Economy, dwellr and Pop Quiz, the Census Bureau is using 21st century technology to meet its centuries-old mission of making the statistics that define our growing, changing nation more accessible than ever before.

Follow the conversation on Twitter using #hackforchange and #CitySDK. Developers can access the City SDK online and share ideas through the Census Bureau's Developers Forum.

When: City SDK Open Data Solutions Challenge: June 6- July 31, 2015

Who: An estimated 5,000 National Day of Civic Hacking participants, which include software developers and entrepreneurs, plus 20 local, state and federal agencies.

Where: City SDK Open Data Solutions Challenge: GitHub - City SDK Challenge

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

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http://www.census.gov